NHSO Art Violin Project on display at: Audubon Strings, 63 Audubon St, New Haven

Squirrel Violin

Michael J. Sweeney
Middletown, CT

I grew up in a rural town in northeastern New York State called Peru. Peru was uniquely known for apple orchards and a Strategic Air Command base. As a result, the town managed to be simultaneously fairly diverse and rather dull. I spent a lot of time roaming around in the woods and riding my bike.
Later I went to college and received a B.A. in Art from SUNY - Plattsburgh. I worked in steel sculpture and printmaking. A year or two after that I moved to Connecticut and went to graduate school at the University of Connecticut, where I received an M.F.A. in Painting, Printmaking, and Installation Art. This experience taught me that I did not want to teach college. So, I worked in academic and public libraries for a decade while making art for three reasons: exhibition, private commission, and because I enjoyed visual imagery and figurative language. Most of my time in libraries was spent working with computers, which for some reason agreed with the way I thought. I found I could use computers to advantage in writing and printmaking. I became a web-guy and digital-imager, but always brought the electronic back to much more physical expressions. I never really liked that digital look.
At a certain point I found myself working with young people and feeling exhausted by the library’s computer monitor. I returned to school and became certified to teach “Language Arts.” Now I teach middle school and make art. I still use computers quite diversely, still translate the digital into more traditional materials, and still seek exhibitions, commissions, and connections between visuals and language.